Why a Playstation 3 Price Drop Will Have Little Impact

Many gamers were disappointed that Sony didn't drop the price of the Playstation 3 today. However, even if Sony were to slash the price of their high-definition video game system some time soon, it will have little impact.

its allays been more expensive but that hasn't stopped 21 or so million people from buying it. the fact that the ps3 has sold 21 mill in the face of the juggernaut wii and the more afordable 360 is a testament to how well the ps3 is doing. lets think of other gens with three consoles, when one is way more expensive how did they do? im pretty sure they didn't sell anything near what the ps3 is doing now. sony said from the beginning that they were giving up market share for profits witch they are making despite what some people would have you believe, and you remember what happened last time ps3 had a price cut Microsoft had a fire sale to keep pace with the ps3.

While Sony has given up a ton of market share, they have also lost a ton of money with the PS3. Going from 68% of the market to 20% of the market is not doing well by any stretch. The PS3 is losing money on every console sold.

On topic, the author is an idiot. If the PS3 drops to $299, it will sell extremely well. I'm not sure it will sell enough to make it catch the 360 in the next two years, but it will start to outsell the 360. The only problem is will Sony lose so much money that it ruins the company. It would basically be a relaunch. Selling at a loss and hope to make it back through software sales. The key then would be to get the cost of the system down to stop bleeding money as soon as possible.

The other problem would be Microsoft bringing a new console out and turning the PS3 into the PS2 and killing off the sales as people migrate to the next generation or forcing Sony to upgrade before they want to. Microsoft brings out a more powerful Xbox for $399 or even $299, and drops the price of the 360 to $99 for an Arcade(in two years) and Sony is stuck again. If they stick to their guns and can't do a price cut this year, then Sony won't be able to get down to sub-two hundred mark in two years. They would be stuck with a $200-250 console while Microsoft has a new far more powerful Xbox for $100-150 more. Not a good position.

Look at what's been happening in Japan the last couple of weeks. Gamers learned that they could get a great price cut just by importing the PS3 from Korea and they cleaned em out. If/when the PS3 drops down to $299, they will become extremely hard to find much like the Wii at launch. At $299, most people can afford to pay for a PS3 out of just one pay check so they will be more inclined to get one.

To be honest, at $299, I'll be tempted to get two of them. Of course I'm an anomaly to the market, being such a "TECH HEAD" and all. You see, I'm gonna try my hand at some of that realtime raytracing I've seen on Youtube... just to be able to say I've done it. ;P

And after reading that I have now found the face of ignorance. Sorry, but history alone proves this guy wrong. It will have a significant impact, mark my words. If anybody knows history, they know it repeats itself. And no, that is not my verbiage.

Trust me. The PlayStation 3 is in more demand than an xbox 360. At a $299.99 price point the value is unmatched. I'm not talking a $399.99 vs $199.99 value- I'm talking $299.99 vs $199.99 blu-ray, wi-fi, hard drive, free online, block buster exclusives- value. The low end arcade doesn't even have a hard drive!! And If $299.99 is still expensive then wtf is the wii?

Microsoft also assed themselves out with all the hardware failure. The PS3 is the most reliable and robust gaming console out. What about what matters? The games!! Microsoft already released all of their big hitters early on. Sony hasn't. GT5, God of War III, and Final Fantasy XIII (Japan) are still not out, and these are 2010 titles most likely. These are the real console pushers. Microsoft still hasn't even announced an 09 lineup, let alone anything beyond that!!

Japan- what if Sony cuts the price there + Final Fantasy XIII bundle? Europe- what if Sony cuts the price there + GT5 bundle? North America- what if Sony cuts the price there + GOW III bundle?

Is that the reason the 360 is outselling the PS3 every month. Hahahhahahaha XBL is so much better then PSN and also the PS3 hardware fails too like the Yellow light. The 360 has a lot better hardware now and more games are going to be announced at E3. So enjoy being in #3 place you droids! Hahahahhahahahahaaahaa

"Still Expensive" I can't believe the person that wrote this thinks $299 for a PS3 would still be expensive...If the PS3 was dropped to $299, it wouldn't be Expensive... I mean, it would be JUST $50 bucks more than the Wii.

"Recession" Yes, the economic outlook isn't that bright, but even in February NPD, the PS3 sold 270K+ when it's cheapest price was still $399... if the PS3 sold that much in February at that price, I don't see why it couldn't have sold at least another 100K+ if it was $299.

"Playstation 2 Backwards Compatibility" Most people that are potential PS3 buyers already have a PS2, and I don't see it negatively impacting PS3 sales if the PS3 gets a $100 price cut.

If anyone thinks a full $100 dollar PS3 price cut wouldn't change a thing, they are sadly mistaken, in denial, or both. The last time the PS3 got a price cut, it started outselling the 360 in the U.S. and Worldwide (while still being more expensive) for quite a while, and a full $100 PS3 price cut could bring back that trend.

Yep clowns are just looking for hits. No BC? There is a very small pct of people who care(they are loud and whine a lot but still a very small pct). Everyone seems to have forgotten how pitiful ps3 sales had been before the first $100 price cut in 2k7. It was barely outselling the gameboy advance month to month. Since that cut the sales have been elevated and pretty much stayed there until the recession hit. Even then sales are way above pre-first price cut sales numbers. A second price cut should do the same.

With the current price point, the PS3 has been selling extremely well. All the points in this article are basically void. Even though we are in a recession, that doesn't stop people when it comes to entertainment. The industry has actually been growing.

Normally supply and demand determine the price point for a product. (Wii is still $250 and there has been talk of an increase) In this case we have an artificially high PS3 price point for the pursuit of profits. The question is would increasing the user base ultimately be more profitable or would maintaining better margins?

Clearly Sony has the resources to research and make the proper decision. Despite all of this, stating that the PS3 would not sell significantly more at a lower price point is inexcusably retarded. Nobody says you need an economics PHD to write an article but if you are going to talk price and sales... get a clue.

You forget that the cheapest 360, is cheaper than the Wii...and yet, the Wii still sells twice as many consoles.

Yes, the economy is crap. Doesn't mean much to the hundreds of thousands of people who buy $250 Wiis instead of $200 360s.

You can argue that the Wii is a casual phenomenon and that "hardcore" gamers aren't its' hugest audience. Well, that must mean that the audience that are buying the most consoles don't want too much to do with the 360, eh?

And to think the PS3 was outselling the 360 before it had that price drop. Now, what will happen if the PS3 had its price cut?

1st day purchase on both consoles for me. Even had to sleep outside BestBuy all night for the 360. As money is not flowing through my veins (I 9-5 it for crap pay like most) I will pay whatever they charge for any console that plays games to my liking.

All this drama over marketing, price, exclusives, he said she said, is totaly foreign to me. I game all the time, could care less who made it, what Gamespot gave it, what they charge, where I have to buy it from, the engine, whatever. When I hear of a game, I google the crap out it, watch some demos and if it's still questionable I rent it. I just don't get the wah wah wah all the time about the industry. Who cares? There are booko sweet games out and coming out on both consoles, even the Wii if ur into that. Lighten up!

Ps3 was 399 and 360 was 299 and then MS was like crap.. lets drap the price because thats all we can do.

and so then the 360 got to 199 and thats the only reason its in 2nd places in the past months...

ps.. at the time ps3 was out selling 360.. not even that many games were out.. so if ps3 gets to 299 this E3 with all the games out now mgs killzone uncharted and the upcoming games.. ya well do the math bots..

will come first once sony does the price cut one the ps3 price you can see xbox 360 last in place as for the wii thats not even a true next gen its last gen and ps2 won it the ps3 will be above once all aaa comes out and only whats holding sony back its m$ and the bots

Your all fanboys, this forum is full of fanboy post after fanboy post. The article is not very in depth, but the conclusions it comes to are very logical. Any person whom was not trying to reassure their purchase of PS3 would most likely come to the same conclusions.

it is still too expensive. There are hundreds of thousands of people right now who would gladly accept a job making 4$ an hour. Those who still have jobs have lost all job security. Most of you are probably kids 12-24, as am i, it is easier for us to afford things since we are in either free or cheap housing. Its simply a luxury item. You can get a nice HDTV, laptop, or desktop within a similar price range now-a-days.

No backwards compatibility. This is a biggie, i believe most of Sony's market share still consists of PS2 owners. The PS3 would be nice upgrade, but since it lost backwards compatibility it is no longer an upgrade, its an entirely new investment. An arguably risky one at that. Yes Blue-ray beat HD-DVD, but it still doing poorly in the market.

It's true that Sony is still losing money on every unit sold, and its no secret that their gaming department has cost them substantially. So i dont see why anyone would be denying that.

And last but not least, both Microsoft and Nintendo are in a MUCH MUCH better position to be dropping the prices of their systems, they are both due for a price-drop. Sony on the other-hand was just now FINALLY able to lower their price, and there wont be another price drop for ages.

I really think that instead of going forum to forum to forum posting about how your "PS3 PWNS" which, is an opinion and irrelevant. You should maybe ACTUALLY post on the article at hand? The author is being analytical, hes not being a fanboy.

he is saying the truth. the economy sucks ass. let's look at it this way- 399+60+tax is almost $500 for a ps3. my rent is $500. many peeps are jobless and those that are working aren't getting their full 40 hrs a week. ps3 or rent? video game or groceries? simple huh?